For a guy scraping six years of rust of his wee body Theo Fleury played a hell of a game last night. He beat Kevin Poulin in the shootout to seal a 5-4 Flames win over the Islanders. The Saddledome crowd went nuts. Outstanding!
A round-up of Theo Fleury stories:
Calgary Herald:
Fleury steals show in Flames return --
At the start, six years of pent-up energy waiting to be released, he virtually sprinted down the runway leading from the dressing room to the Pengrowth Saddledome ice, his skates barely touching the red rug en route, the last of them to pop into the spotlight, into view and onto the ice. By design.
At the finish, he basked in the adulation, the one to decide the outcome on a wonderous shootout deke that left N. Y. Islander goalie Poulin more contorted than the stripes on a barber's pole. Fleury's stick in the air. A winner.
"This,'' he said, savouring the shootout winner against the Tavares-less Isles, "is SO much fun. When I was in Chicago, I dreaded going down to the rink. Now, I can't wait to get here. Walking into the building tonight, it felt . . . special. I've played in a lot of big games. This one was important in its own way...
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Flames.NHL.com:Fleury Gets Winner in Shootout --
Fleury looked okay on the offensive zone but appeared to be trying too hard -- read looked unnatural -- when it came to the defensive systems at times. But hey, nobody expected perfection after a six-year absence, right? And, truth be told, he got better as the game went on, even getting a good scoring chance late in the third period...
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CBC.ca:Fleury makes triumphant return with Flames --
Attempting to make a comeback at the age of 41, the popular yet troubled forward hit the ice with the Calgary Flames for the first time since 1999 and scored the shootout winner in a 5-4 pre-season victory over the New York Islanders at the Pengrowth Saddledome on Thursday.
"That was pretty exciting," he said. "It was fun, it was a fun game to be in."
As the capacity crowd of 19,289 chanted "Theo, Theo", Fleury scored on Islanders goaltender Kevin Poulin with a forehand deke to send the fans into a frenzy...
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related:
Puck Daddy:
Video: Phaneuf hit sends Isles' Okposo off on stretcher -- Here's the hit everyone will be talking about: Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames, regaining his reputation as one of the NHL's most lethal open-ice checkers with an absolute demolition of Kyle Okposo of the New York Islanders. The massive hit, and the aftermath ...
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Update: And this blast from the past, just stumbled across this gem.Hockey Bird:
Ode to Theo, August 13, 2002 --
He yells at refs, beats up mascots, fights with fans, takes stupid penalties, quits games, sulks, pouts, and at any given moment he could announce a relapse and be gone forever from hockey. But he’s also our little boy. And we love him...
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